Turning Blue,
This posting is an intro to research I am doing on a project I am calling: "Smoke Removal From Indoor Air"
I have to say that the experiment I've been putting off needs to get done soon. The first experiment is based on
the fact that smoke tends to desublimate (deposit) on
cold surfaces. A dehumidifier's cold evaporator coil comes
to mind, although I doubt that you would want to remove moisture in an already-dry heated house in a cold climate;
we usually have to add considerable moisture, in order to maintain comfortable indoor humidity levels in winter.
Maintaining a positive pressure indoors is very helpful in keeping pollution out. But since this requires drawing in
outside air, the incoming air would have to be well-filtered. If you have an
attached, unheated garage, you might
consider drawing in the air from that point. With the garage door closed, the enclosed space can act as a sort of
'buffer zone,' so to speak. That is, any airborne particle pollution entering the cold garage space will have a chance
to settle out (deposit on the cold surfaces within the enclosed space) When the air finally enters the house itself,
at least some of the PM will have been removed from the incoming air.
Try not to run bathroom fans or clothes dryers during burning times, as these fans draw polluted air into the house.
Place air cleaners on the floor, right below a window, where most of the cold air seeps into the house in extremely
cold weather. In addition to a good air cleaner, I keep a large tray of activated charcoal in every room. Two trays are
better. It is an excellent odor absorber for not only smoke, but cooking odors, as well as pet odors.
If your local hardware store does not sell activated charcoal, try this online store:
Carbon Activated Corporation
http://www.carbonactivatedcorp.com/
The second experiment has yet to be conducted. It is another technique of smoke removal. I thought this up months
ago, but did not have time to get it done. When I do, I will post all of the results as an amateur research project paper.
breathe clean air and live longer!
Woodnyet